Thursday Morning

Akito Sato lays in his bed, asleep. His sleep, like always, is ruined by his alarm going off. At least it isn't five minutes early...Sayori. Akito lets out a sigh of relief that he isn't being woken up early before he gets out of bed and gets dressed and ready for school.

As he walks down the steps, he hears a knock at his door. "I'm coming, Sayori!" Akito yells.

"Wrong!" Leo screams from the other side. Akito opens the door to see Leo. Sayori waves from inside Leo's truck.

"Why are you here?" Akito scrunches his face up in confusion.

"I brought donuts." Leo informs.

"So that's why Sayori is in the truck." Akito replies as Leo closes his eyes and nods. "Why are you being so generous, Leo?"

"I'm gonna fight Daisuke." Leo says bluntly.

"Well, at least you don't act like nothing is going on like Sayori." Akito responds as he is already rubbing his temples. "Is there any way I can talk you out of this before you get suspended or worse, expelled?"

"You think I plan on doin' it at school? I'm not an idiot." Leo informs.

"Man, I wish Natsuki was here. She'd call your bluff." Akito scoffs.

"Nattie has nothing on me." Leo mocks. "She is a loser."

"I will remain neutral." Akito states, causing Leo to laugh. "Are you sure about this?"

"As much as I've ever been. I'm tired of his shite." Leo shrugs. "I'll probably get a couple bruises, but imma fuck him up too."

"Dude, we are literally weeks away from Christmas Break. You shouldn't get in trouble." Akito sighs. "At the very least, can you wait till we get back from break?"

Leo sighs. "I'll try, Akito. But if I do, ya owe me one."

"Alright, fair." Akito nods in agreement and the men shake on it.

School

Akito, Sayori, and Leo arrive at the school. While Sayori and Leo go over to Monika and Ikki, Akito goes off to find Natsuki. Unfortunately, his search comes up empty. He pulls up his phone.

Hey Natsuki, where are you?

-Akito

No response. Maybe she overslept? Akito shrugs it off and goes to find the others, but comes across Yuri and Tamiko reading a book together. "Hey Yuri. Hey Tamiko." Akito greets as the two look up from the comfy concrete ground.

"Hey Akito..." Yuri mutters.

"Hiya." Tamiko smiles softly.

"Have you guys seen Natsuki?" Akito questions. Both look at each other before shaking their heads.

"I haven't seen her..." Yuri responds calmly. Akito sighs before sitting beside them.

"Whatcha reading?" Akito asks as he checks his phone. Still no text message. She's probably just sleeping, he assures himself.

"The Da Vinci Code. It's not quite my taste, but Tamiko suggested it." Yuri reveals.

"I think you'll like it more as you get invested." Tamiko informs.

"That's possible." Yuri begins reading again.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it. See you later." Akito stands up.

"Bye..." Yuri mumbles.

"See ya." Tamiko waves as he walks away.

Lunch

Still no text. Maybe she lost her charger and her phone died, or maybe she got grounded but was also sick today...Akito keeps coming up with reasons. Honestly, he's worried about her.

"Still no text?" Leo questions, looking over at Akito.

"Nothing." Akito sighs.

"Maybe her phone is off." Ikki suggests.

"Or it's dead and her charger is broke." Monika adds.

"I thought of that already." Akito nods.

"I hate to be 'that guy', but this is karma, mate. You were harassin' me about bein' worried for Sayori." Leo nudges Akito.

"At least Sayori texted you." Akito responds.

"Yeah, alright. Ya got me there." Leo rests his head in his hand. "I'm sure she's fine."

"I hope so..." Akito says with yet another sigh. They sit in silence for a moment before Akito's text tone goes off. He nearly drops his phone in his attempt to check it.

"You aren't supposed to play catch with your phone, Kit..." Yuri comments, not looking up from her book.

"She has a point, ya know." Leo nods.

"Hahaha." Akito mockingly laughs before checking his phone.

Hey son. Do you and your girlfriend like hamburgers? Chika suggested making it for your first night here.

-Kota

Akito feels a wave of disappointment wash over him. He loves his dad, but he couldn't have picked a worse time to text him.

Yeah that's fine

-Akito

Akito quickly types in his response and sends.

"Is she okay?" Monika inquires.

"It wasn't her. It was my dad." Akito rests his chin in his hand.

"It's going to be okay, Akito." Sayori places her hand on his shoulder and smiles brightly. "Also, she will be very happy to hear you were worried."

"Thanks Sayori." Akito smiles back. They share a smile for a moment before...

"Can I have your rice?" Sayori points at his rice. Akito scoffs, amused, before passing her his rice. "Yay!" Sayori squeals before eating the rice.

Then, she is hit in the head with rice. Laughter is heard as everyone looks over to the next table, where Daisuke and his goons are losing it.

"Hey, she wanted rice!" Daisuke yells in between laughs.

"You have a lot of nerve wasting rice." Sayori pouts for a moment before Leo stands up, lowkey passing his rice to her before walking over to Daisuke.

"Oh come on..." Akito sighs.

"Did ya mum not teach you manners?" Leo crosses his arms as he comes face to face with Daisuke.

"Woah, big guy, calm down. I'm just giving the lady what she wants." Daisuke innocently says. "It looks like she likes it in the face." Daisuke crudely jokes. Leo steps forward to retaliate, but Akito steps in between them.

"Can't you two ever just ignore each other?" Akito asks, trying to be a pacifist.

"Listen buddy, I need you to get out from in between us unless you want another beating." Daisuke looks down at Akito.

"Ya make one more comment about my girlfriend or best friend and I'll make sure you think what you did to Akito on Halloween was child's play." Leo threatens.

"Try it, big guy." Daisuke glares down at Leo.

"Leo..." Akito whispers.

"Meet me after school." Leo glares back.

"Leo..." Akito hisses.

"You've got it." Daisuke growls before he walks away.

"What happened to waiting till after Christmas break?" Akito confronts Leo.

"My hands were tied. He insulted you and Sayori. I'm not lettin' anyone get away with that." Leo responds, serious.

"What did he say about me?" Sayori asks, "I mean, I heard what he said, but I didn't really understand it. Do people like having rice in their face?"

"Uhhh..." Akito and Leo both respond.

"Protect the innocent!" Monika yells before Ikki covers Sayori's ears.

After School

Monika is helping Ikki, Sayori, and Leo with their language arts homework, while Yuri and Tamiko continue reading their book.

"Now, what is a hyperbole?" Monika asks.

"Me sayin' that I'll beat Daisuke to a pulp. I'll probably only put him in the hospital." Leo responds.

"...You aren't wrong." Monika replies, clearly not wanting that as the answer.

"When is the fight?" Ikki asks Leo.

"In about five minutes. I should get goin'." Leo informs as he stands up.

"Club just started!" Monika immediately says.

"Leo, you can't fight him." Akito tries to stop him.

"I've had enough of his shite. I'm gonna settle this." Leo throws his backpack over his shoulder and storms out. Akito and Ikki follow, as do Sayori and Monika.

"Should we go along?" Tamiko questions.

"I am not an accomplice... I do not wish to tarnish my reputation." Yuri calmly replies.

"That is...fair." Tamiko nods in agreement.

Outside

Leo is the first outside and immediately sees Daisuke waiting by the bike rack. Leo storms towards him, ready to fight. Akito, Ikki, Monika, and Sayori get outside just in time to see Daisuke throw Leo into the bike rack. Daisuke goes to grab Leo while he is laying on the rack, but Leo kicks him in the chest, pushing him away. Leo then stands up and the two begin to pull and push each other, struggling to get an advantage over each other. Before the fight can progress any further, they are interrupted.

"ENOUGH!" Vice Principal Mr. Suzuki screams, stopping both Leo and Daisuke. "Tomorrow morning, I expect to see both of you in my office! I will ensure that you both are punished!" Mr. Suzuki yells before Daisuke storms off. Leo walks back to his friends as Mr. Suzuki heads back inside.

"I think I won." Leo comments before Ikki slaps him in the back of the head.

"You can be an idiot sometimes." Ikki sighs.

"Correction: Most times." Monika rubs her temples.

"Correction: Never." Sayori smiles, though it is very clear that she is worried about Leo.

"Correction: Always." Leo chuckles as he rubs his back. "Damn, that hurt..."

"Please be more careful..." Sayori's smile fades as she grabs Leo's hand with both of hers.

"I'll try." Leo smiles at her. Akito's phone goes off. He pulls it out of his pocket and looks at it.

Hey.

-Natsuki

"Hey, I got to go. I'll talk to you guys later." Akito quickly waves his friends goodbye and rushes off. He goes to a nearby park and finally replies to Natsuki.

Are you okay?

-Akito

He waits a couple minutes before a reply is sent.

Fine.

-Natsuki

Akito is caught off guard by the blunt message.

Do you need anything? Do you need to talk about anything?

-Akito

Akito sits down at a bench and takes in the world around him. He looks to the stormy gray clouds and the little amount of snow on the ground.

No.

-Natsuki

Akito types several things in as a reply, but keeps deleting the message. Then...

Thanks though.

-Natsuki

A smile slowly appears on Akito's face.

No problem, Natsuki. Let me know if you need anything.

-Akito

A/N: Sorry this wasn't overly long. I haven't had the chance to work on this lately. Next chapter will be the beginning of the Christmas Break. With that, the chapters should be longer. Hopefully, it doesn't take forever for the next chapter. Thank you for being patient, everyone. You all put up with me saying that I'll get into a pattern before falling behind again. Hopefully, I'll see you all soon!

-Equinox